Dhaka: Bangladesh's powerful anti-graft panel has filed a chargesheet against former premier Khaleda Zia's son, Tariq Rehman, who was arrested a year ago for allegedly taking Rs 12.6-crore bribe for a cover up in a sensational murder case.

Rahman, former BNP minister Lutfuzzaman Babar and six others were charged with "misappropriating their power and causing obstacles to the investigation" into the 2006 killing of Bashundhara Business Group director, Humayun Kabir Sabbir, a day after the Anti Corruption Commission filed a chargesheet against Zia.

The accused accepted Taka 21 crore as bribes from the company chairman Ahmed Akbar Sobhan to drop the name of his son Shafiat Sobhan Sanvir,  who allegedly killed Sabbir from the case, according to the ACC.

The ACC alleged that Zia's elder son Rahman, also the senior joint secretary general of her Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), was a mastermind of the deal.

Rahman, who is in late 40s, was detained on March 8, 2007 by the military-backed interim government under its massive anti-corruption drive. He faces 10 criminal and graft cases and this is the third charge sheet filed against him.

Babar, a former state minister for home, was earlier jailed for 17 years for illegal possession of weapons but this is the first chargesheet against him in a graft case since his arrest in May last year.

Zia, who was arrested in September last year, was on Monday charged with accepting kickbacks for contracting out several gas fields to a Canadian oil company while her Bangladesh Nationalist Party ruled the country from 2001 to 2006.
Source : PTI